1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of traps for aquatic snails. More specifically, the present invention comprises a system and method for safely and efficiently baiting, trapping, and removing unwanted and invasive aquatic snails.
2. Description of the Related Art
The freshwater snails of the Family Ampullariidae are known as “apple snails” and are a non-native, invasive species of freshwater snail. These snails are voracious herbivores that particularly prefer young, succulent plants, such as rice seedlings, but can also uproot and consume mature aquatic plants. Left unchecked, these snails can consume all the vegetation in a water body. Further, these snails have become major pests in 18 countries and have made the list of the top 100 Globally Invasive Alien Species by the ISSG. These snails are also intermediate hosts of the rat lungworm (angiostrongylus cantonensis) which can cause eosinophilic meningitis in humans.
Two South American apple snails, the Island Apple Snail (Pomacea Insularum) and the Channeled Apple Snail (Pojmacea Canaliculata) are spreading rapidly from Texas to South Carolina and represent a major risk to aquatic ecosystems, agriculture, and human health in the southern coastal plain of the United States. Currently, there are no effective, environmentally-sound control methods.
Further, because of the nature of invasive species, early detection and early remedial actions are the best forms of control. Once an invasive species becomes established, it is much more difficult to control or eradicate.
Apple snails have excellent chemoreception and thus can be lured using food items that they prefer. These snails are able to rapidly control buoyancy, and readily dig into the substrate of a water body to obtain food. Apple snails are gregarious and readily congregate under objects providing shade. Finally, apple snails readily lay their eggs above the water line on available vertical surfaces.
Generally, the prior art is restricted to traps and bait for terrestrial snails. Current control technologies for aquatic snails typically include application of copper containing compounds (e.g., copper sulfate) to a water body—a very blunt instrument that is toxic to many species besides aquatic snails, and hand picking, an expensive, time consuming, and ineffective process. Thus, there is a need for a simple, efficient, low-cost bait and trap system that can be used to detect and control populations of invasive aquatic snails.